Theory was French. In her book, by turns a memoir, biography and work of intellectual history, Eakin sets out to ‘re-embody’ these men. Each of these episodes are illuminating and engagingly told, and Erdur is bold in his assertions about the ‘criminally neglected colonial roots of French Theory’. Meanwhile, Eakin establishes the Algerian War of Independence as one of the key events that informed the development of French theory. But theory isn’t really a microscope; it’s a malleable thing, developed and practised by people with biases and blind spots.